Opus, pamphlet, Opus Dei, Opus Deiist, opera / Language in time

Answer: opus, with a lowercase letter, means 'work', and is used to identify compositions by the great masters of classical music, such as "La cetra, violin concerto, opus 9, by Antonio Vivaldi." From opus comes the word "pamphlet", "short literary work." With an initial capital letter, Opus is the name of a book by the British journalist Gareth Gore, who speaks of the recent strength of Christian thought in the United States, thanks to members of Opus Dei, a Latin name meaning "work of God."

The book Opus refers mainly to members of Opus Dei, such as Luis Téllez and the Smith brothers, and to other skilled fundraisers. It speaks in particular detail about two powerful members. The first, Luis Valls-Taberner, was president for half a century of the Banco Popular de España, with whose generous donations schools, universities, seminaries and cultural centers that spread Christian thought were founded. The generous hand of Banco Popular reached not only Spanish cities, but also institutions in Italy, Venezuela and other countries. Part of these donations were used to found IESE, the most prestigious business school in the world, with branches in Barcelona, ​​New York, Shanghai, Lagos and Sao Paulo.

The second hero of the book is John McCloskey III, a successful stockbroker and later a priest who converted influential figures in Washington politics, finance and the media to Catholicism. His apostolate allowed him to create a network of one hundred foundations that have financed colleges, training centres and research centres at the fifteen main American universities. Gore discovers that these numeraries, in association with other Catholics, Christians of other denominations, Muslims and defenders of Natural Law, were changing the mentality of the country's citizens through expensive propaganda campaigns, which ultimately led to the strengthening of the conservative ideas that the Republican Party champions today, such as pro-life policies and opposition to gay marriage. A symbol of this new dominant mentality is the Prayer Breakfast, which takes place in February of each year, with the presence of presidents, businessmen, investors and influencers, presided over by the first president of the United States.

Gore highlights the difficulties faced by his two heroes in their efforts to orient the world towards traditional Christian ideals. McCloskey must temporarily leave the United States due to a lawsuit, and Valls-Taberner has to deal with his brother Javier, with whom he shares the management of Popular. The conflict is public knowledge, which gives rise to the joke that the bank's employees and clients will repeat: "On the board of the bank, Javier is Opus Night, and Luis, Opus Dei."

Another word that comes from the word opus, and in this specific case from the proper name Opus Dei, is “opusdeísta”, which the Dictionary of the Spanish language defines as 'member or sympathizer of Opus Dei, a personal prelature of the Catholic Church'. Also from the same family of words are the verb operar, 'to operate', and the nouns opera, 'dramatic musical work', and its derivatives, operetta, operatic and operatic; operation, 'surgery' or 'action', and its derivatives, operable, operative, operational, and operator, 'tourist intermediary' or 'surgeon'.

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